How do i get the screen to pause?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to stop C++ console application from exiting immediately?

So im learning c++ and i was given this example and i wanted to run it. But i cannot get it to stay up, unless i change it. How do i get Microsoft visual 2010 to keep up the screen when it gets to the end of the program after I release it?

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;

int area(int length, int width);        /* function declaration */

/* MAIN PROGRAM: */
int main()
{
    int this_length, this_width;      

    cout << "Enter the length: ";             /* <--- line 9 */
    cin >> this_length;
    cout << "Enter the width: ";
    cin >> this_width;
    cout << "\n";                             /* <--- line 13 */

    cout << "The area of a " << this_length << "x" << this_width;
    cout << " rectangle is " << area(this_length, this_width);

    return 0;
}
/* END OF MAIN PROGRAM */

/* FUNCTION TO CALCULATE AREA: */
int area(int length, int width)   /* start of function definition */
{
    int number;

    number = length * width;

    return number;
}                                 /* end of function definition */
/* END OF FUNCTION */

This very question was previously asked here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2529617/how-to-stop-c-console-application-from-exiting-immediately (there are several solutions listed there). — James McNellis, Apr 27 '10 at 23:26

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:25

5

In Visual C++ you can either:

Put a breakpoint at the closing brace of main and run attached to the debugger (Debug -> Start Debugging). When the breakpoint is hit you will be able to view the console window.
Run detached from the debugger (Debug -> Start Without Debugging). When the application terminates, the console window will stay open with a "Press any key to continue..." prompt.

answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:25

James McNellis

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I tried "start without debugging" but it still closes on me... – Dakota Apr 27 '10 at 23:35
1

@Dakota: Make sure your application is a console application (Project Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker -> System -> SubSystem should be "Console (/SUBSYSTEM:CONSOLE)"). – James McNellis Apr 27 '10 at 23:38

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:30

2

I usually use cin.getchar() to wait for a character.

answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:30

Michael Dorgan

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:21

1

Try adding system("PAUSE"); to the end of main before the return statement.

This executes the PAUSE system command which waits for a key to be pressed.

answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:21

Nathan Osman

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That'll work as long as pause is in the path - but it'll make the program unnecessarily dependent on Windows. – redtuna Apr 27 '10 at 23:24
yeah but then i wont get my answer to stick up.. will I? – Dakota Apr 27 '10 at 23:25
1

will this really work? pause isn't an executable is it, it's part of the command shell? `system("cmd.exe /c pause");` might be more the ticket, but it's getting further and further into bad programming practices. – dash-tom-bang Apr 27 '10 at 23:27
No. It's a fine practice. It simply causes the console to wait for a keypress before closing. – Nathan Osman Apr 27 '10 at 23:29
ok, i see where you mean, thank you – Dakota Apr 27 '10 at 23:31
@dash: No, see here: http://cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/cstdlib/system – Nathan Osman Apr 27 '10 at 23:35

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:21

1

The easiest way is to wait for the user to press a key before returning from main.

answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:21

redtuna

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:27

1

You already have the answer in your code.. add another cin at the end of your program ;P user would have to press enter for program to continue and exit

answered Apr 27 '10 at 23:27

Jonas B

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How do i get the screen to pause?

5 Answers5

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